Environmentalists oppose dolphin rescue facility plan

TAGBILARAN CITY ,Philippines — The plan of setting up a dolphin rescue facility is now being pushed by the Bureau of Fishery and Aquatic Resources and Rep. Arthur Yap (3rd district, Bohol) but has met opposition from environmentalists even before it is formally presented to agencies concerned.

BFAR, which is now looking for an ideal site for the facility, said Yap has started consultation with former BFAR director Malcolm Sarmiento about the project. It said Yap will partly bankroll the funds but it did not mention how much the project will cost.  

There are two sites, in the towns of Valencia and Dimiao, being considered, said BFAR, adding that these towns in the 3rd district have been where most stranding of dolphins had occurred.

The planned facility would include a laboratory equipped with life-saving paraphernalia for stranded cetaceans. It also plans to secure a so-called recuperation sea ambulance and portable water container for the rescued and stranded cetaceans, not just the dolphins.

BFAR regional director Andres Bojos raised the said plan during the meeting of the coastal task force in preparation of the ocean month celebration recently here.

The mere mention of it has raised the howl of the task force members but the directors reportedly retorted "what the heck" if the facility is to be pursued here, a report said.

A group of Bohol environmentalists, including the Physalus, a non-profit organization for protection of the marine mammals helping the Bohol Environment Management Office (BEMO), has mounted streamers opposing the project.

The streamers, put up during the culmination program of the Month of the Ocean celebration held in the city last week, have these messages: "Say No to Captivity, Keep Bohol Dolphin Facility Free," and "Raise your head and Make Bohol Dolphin Facility-Free Province."

Physalus was apprehensive that the plan may not be what it was intended to be. Some environmentalists said that the plan may be good but not when it becomes like the Subic Bay Ocean Adventure, or Sentosa Ocean Adventure in Singapore, where dolphins-in-captivity are being trained to entertain tourists for profit.

A dolphin reportedly sourced out from Solomon islands for Subic Bay Ocean Adventure costs about P500,000.